title: Rat skin wound healing induced by alternagin-C, a disintegrin-like, Cys-rich protein from Bothrops alternatus venom.
abstract: Alternagin-C (ALT-C) is a disintegrin-like, Cys-rich protein isolated from Bothrops alternatus snake venom, which has been shown to induce in vivo angiogenesis. Therefore, this protein could be interesting as a new approach for tissue regeneration studies. Here the effects of ALT-C on fibroblasts and inflammatory cells, collagen type III and type I and TGF-α expression in a rat wounded skin model were studied. Thirty-five male Wistar rats (weight 270 ± 20 g) were divided into seven groups with five animals in each of the following groups: a control group which wounded animals received treatment with natrozol(®) gel only; ALT-C10, ALT-C60 and ALT-C100 groups of wounded animals that were treated with the same amount of gel containing 10, 60 and 100 ng of ALT-C, respectively. Animals were treated once a day with 20 µl of gel associated or not with ALT-C for 1, 3, 5 or 7 days. ALT-C treatment increased the fibroblast density, collagen deposition and accelerated the inflammatory process, mostly in the ALT-C60 group. These results indicate that ALT-C improves wound repair process in rat skin. Thus, ALT-C could be a candidate to the development of a novel therapeutic strategy for wounded skin repair.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Fisiológicas, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Estela Maria Correia
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Sant'Ana
authors.forename: Cibele Marli Cação Paiva
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Gouvêa
authors.forename: João Luiz Quagliotti
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Durigan
authors.forename: Márcia Regina
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Cominetti
authors.forename: Edson Rosa
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Pimentel
authors.forename: Heloisa Sobreiro
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Selistre-de-Araújo
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D017837:Bothrops; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D003435:Crotalid Venoms / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019483:Disintegrins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000293:injuries; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D003435:Crotalid Venoms; D019483:Disintegrins; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; C481346:alternagin-C; D003094:Collagen